Summary Of Rob Baker's Jimmy Santiago Baca

When you think of poetry the last thing that pops in your head is this could save lives, but in Rob Baker’s “Jimmy Santiago Baca: Poetry as Lifesaver” he claims that poetry is more tha just a form of writing, it can save lives. Baker used Jimmy Baca’s life to drive his main point in his essay. Jimmys life changed “many times in his life” (893) Baker used these points in his life to display how poetry and writing can change lives. Bacas life had a rough start. His “parents abandoned him when he was seven” (893). He lived with his “grandparents and then in a series of detention centers” (893). He would always run away. His childhood was a disaster. He didn’t finished high school and couldn't read very well. He then became a drug dealer and eventually

When in jail he had a lot of time to think. This is the part of Baca's life that Baker is using to prove that poetry and writing can change lives. When in jail his life changed because of a “ letter from a man as part of a church program to write prisoners without families” (895). This letter changed his life. After this he taught himself to read. Writing and poetry changed his life. Baca said “I believe something in my brain or something in my nervous system was impacted by poetry”(895). Baca used the context of his life to drive his poems. After his release from prison he published many poems. Then his life changed again as he started to teach. Baca found his place in teaching kids the power of writing and how it change your life. Baca said that his “job is simply to keep the light inside my students buring that's it” (896). He want his students to tell the story of their lives and see the possibilities of writing. Baker used Jimmy Baca's transformation, because of poetry, as evidence of the things that writing and poetry can do beyond the

In this piece Baker is writing to student and also possibly teachers. He is writing to students because his purpose is to convince students that writing is important. The audience is made clear throughout his piece. Baker wants to communicate to students the importance of writing. Baker writes about how “Baca encourages students to tell the story no one else has: the stories of their own lives” (896). Baker want students to read this piece and understand the deeper meaning. Baker also writes about how Baca “encourages students to use poetry to discuss issues they might not normally talk about”(896). Baker wants the reader to see how writing and poetry especially can be used to express even the most controversial or awkward topics. Once you understand the audience you can see deeper into Baker’s piece. When you understand that the audience is students and purpose us to show what else writing can do; you can see how this piece can be so persuasive. As a student myself, I understand the dislike for writing and the idea that it's not as useful as other things. This piece shows students that writing is so much more than that, but you can only see this if you understand the purpose and